Telegram from Lloyd George (sent via Curzon)

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Telegram from Lloyd George (sent via Curzon)

To: President of the Council of the League of Nations, Mr. Paul Hymans Regarding the readiness of the President of the United States to appoint a personal representative to help end the war against Armenia December 2, 1920

Following the receipt of the telegram dated November 26 from the President of the Council of the League to the Prime Minister, we have learned that the President of the United States of America has expressed his willingness to appoint a personal representative to act as a mediator with the aim of ending the hostilities currently being waged against the Armenian people.

We lack clear information as to whether the Armenians could have anticipated this initiative when concluding peace with one or both of their neighboring states. We are not in a position to undertake any independent mission, should that be the intention of the telegram to which we are responding. However, the President of the United States may count on our readiness to support his efforts by all means of moral and diplomatic assistance he may request.

League of Nations. Official Journal, November–December 1920, p. 591

🕊️ Reply from the President of the Council of the League of Nations, Mr. Paul Hymans

To: Prime Minister of Spain, Mr. Eduardo Dato Expressing gratitude for willingness to assist in ending hostilities against Armenia December 2, 1920

We thank you on behalf of the Council of the League for your telegram of November 30 concerning Armenia. The Council is greatly pleased and deeply grateful for your response. The Government of Brazil has sent a similar telegram to the Council.

At the same time, President Wilson has informed the Council of his agreement to offer his good offices and to act personally as a mediator through a representative he may appoint, in order to bring an end to the open hostilities against Armenia.

The Council is therefore sending a reply to President Wilson, expressing gratitude for his acceptance of the proposed mission and conveying your response as well as that of the Government of Brazil. The Council requests that you establish direct contact with President Wilson to determine how best to organize cooperation in this endeavor.

League of Nations. Official Journal, November–December 1920, No. 627

🌐 Reply from the President of the Council of the League of Nations, Mr. Paul Hymans

To: Minister of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Mr. A. Marques Expressing gratitude for willingness to assist in ending hostilities against Armenia December 2, 1920

We thank you on behalf of the Council of the League for your telegram concerning Armenia. The Council is greatly pleased and deeply grateful for your response. The Government of Spain has sent a similar telegram to the Council.

At the same time, President Wilson has informed the Council of his agreement to offer his good offices and to act personally as a mediator through a representative he may appoint, in order to bring an end to the open hostilities against Armenia.

The Council is therefore sending a reply to President Wilson, expressing gratitude for his acceptance of the proposed mission and conveying your response as well as that of the Government of Spain. The Council requests that you establish direct contact with President Wilson to determine how best to organize cooperation in this matter.

League of Nations. Official Journal, November–December 1920, No. 628

LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF THE DELEGATION OF THE AZERBAIJANI DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC, A. TOPCHIBASHOV, TO THE PRESIDENT OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, MR. PAUL HYMANS, REGARDING HIS GOVERNMENT’S RECOGNITION OF THE STATUS OF DISPUTED TERRITORIES BETWEEN AZERBAIJAN AND ARMENIA AND THE PROSPECT OF THEIR RESOLUTION THROUGH MUTUAL CONCESSIONS OR REFERRAL TO THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS December 7, 1920

Note from the Secretary-General: The Secretary-General has the honor to transmit to the Members of the League of Nations the following letter, dated December 7, received from the Head of the Azerbaijani Peace Delegation.

To His Excellency Mr. Paul Hymans, President of the First Assembly of the League of Nations, Geneva

Sir,

The Fifth Committee, elected by the Assembly of the League of Nations, at its fourth session on December 1, concluded that the Republic of Azerbaijan could not be admitted to the League of Nations.

This conclusion, as stated in the report published in the Journal Officiel No. 17 (p. 139), is based on the following considerations:

  1. The difficulty in precisely determining the extent of the territory over which the government of this state exercises authority.
  2. The inability to clearly define Azerbaijan’s current borders due to disputes with neighboring states.

The Committee has determined that the provisions of the Covenant do not permit the admission of Azerbaijan under present circumstances. Allow me, on behalf of the Delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan which I have the honor to lead, to present to the Assembly of the League of Nations, through your kind mediation, the following observations regarding the two arguments advanced by the Fifth Committee.

I

First, the Committee refers to the difficulty in determining the borders of the territory under the control of the Azerbaijani government. The Delegation respectfully submits to the Assembly that this difficulty is temporary and should not be considered a decisive factor in this matter. It is an indisputable fact that prior to the invasion by Russian Bolsheviks on April 28, 1920, the legitimate government of Azerbaijan exercised full authority over the entire territory of the Republic of Azerbaijan within its present borders, as indicated on the map submitted to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations.

Following this invasion, part of the territory was occupied by Bolshevik forces. The Azerbaijani people, led by their government and concentrated in the city of Ganja, launched a bloody struggle against the Bolsheviks, gradually liberating nearly all the territories that had been occupied. At present, the Bolsheviks retain only the city of Baku and its surrounding areas, as well as a small portion of the railway up to the station of Adji-Kabul. The remainder of Azerbaijan, including the districts of the Baku and Quba provinces and all areas of the former Elizavetpol province, is under the control of the Azerbaijani government, which is based in Ganja. There also resides a portion of the parliament, which had been dissolved by the Bolsheviks, and part of the army.

This territory constitutes nine-tenths of Azerbaijan’s present borders. The Ganja government, as the legitimate authority of Azerbaijan, is capable of providing sufficient guarantees that it will fulfill all international obligations in accordance with the Covenant of the League of Nations. The Delegation takes the liberty of assuring the Assembly that the struggle of the Azerbaijani people, led by their government, against the Russian Bolsheviks will continue with unwavering energy until Baku and its environs are liberated from the invaders.

Our people will never come to terms with the Bolsheviks, whom they regard as usurpers that must be expelled.

It should be noted, moreover, that the threat of Bolshevism is not limited to Azerbaijan but endangers the entire Caucasus. Bolshevik forces have seized all of the North Caucasus and the Quba region, as well as the neighboring state of Armenia, which has recently proclaimed itself a Soviet Republic.

II

The second objection raised by the Committee concerns unresolved territorial disputes between Azerbaijan and its neighboring states—Georgia and Armenia.

On this point, the Delegation has the honor to draw the Assembly’s attention to the fact that it is nearly impossible to name any newly established state whose borders are entirely undisputed. On the contrary, we observe that not only new states but even those with centuries of existence have had—and still have—border disputes. Such disputes do not deprive them of their sovereign rights over their own territories.

The Republic of Azerbaijan, in defending the integrity of its territory against all aggression, has been compelled to enter into conflict with Georgia over the Zakatala district and with Armenia over Karabakh and Zangezur. These territories are part of Azerbaijan and are administered by the Azerbaijani government. The provinces of Karabakh and Zangezur were placed under Azerbaijani administration by decision of the former representative of the Allied Powers in the Caucasus.

In any case, these disputes concern not only Azerbaijan but also the neighboring states that have initiated them. The Republic of Azerbaijan has consistently maintained that these border disputes with the neighboring republics of Georgia and Armenia are local matters for the respective governments and that the parties involved will find a way to resolve them through mutual concessions.

Should this hope not be realized and the disputes remain unresolved locally, the Azerbaijani Delegation has no doubt that the three Transcaucasian republics will refer the matter to the League of Nations, as indicated in the political memorandum submitted by the Azerbaijani Delegation (Republic of Azerbaijan, p. 44) to the Peace Conference in September 1919, and in paragraph 7 of the notes presented on November 25, 1920 (No. 697) to the Secretary-General of the League of Nations, referring to Memorandum No. 108 concerning Azerbaijan’s admission to the League.

The Delegation firmly believes that, despite the aforementioned disputes—imposed upon Azerbaijan—this country, so richly endowed by nature, is capable of guaranteeing the fulfillment of all international obligations required of members of the League of Nations under the Covenant.

In the name of the vital interests of a country that has twice suffered invasion by Russian Bolsheviks, the Azerbaijani Delegation has the honor to declare to the Members of the League of Nations that the admission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the League would provide the moral support so urgently needed by our people in their struggle against Bolshevism—a people who, without any foreign assistance, have waged a bloody battle for more than six months to save independent Azerbaijan.

Expressing the hope that this appeal for moral support will draw the attention of the honorable representatives of the nations participating in the Assembly, I have the honor, on behalf of the Azerbaijani Delegation, to respectfully request that you read this statement before the Assembly during the discussion of the aforementioned conclusions of the Fifth Committee regarding the admission of the Republic of Azerbaijan to the League of Nations.

I have the honor to remain, etc. A.M. Topchibashov President of the Peace Delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan

League of Nations, Republic of Azerbaijan. Letter from the President of the Peace Delegation of the Republic of Azerbaijan. Assembly Document 206 (20/48/206). (Emphasis added – Y.B.) 630

Yuri Barsegov “Nagorno-Karabakh in International Law and Global Politics”

Artatsolum

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